


After the Aftermath

by nettlesmoothie



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet, F/M, Gen, Heavy Angst, Identity Reveal, Platonic Relationships, Post Regeneration, Post-Episode: 2017 Xmas Twice Upon A Time, Reunion, Reveal, Temporary Amnesia, tfw when you regenerate and meet your old friends who you feel bad abt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-04-21 00:37:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14273091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nettlesmoothie/pseuds/nettlesmoothie
Summary: The newly regenerated Doctor falls from her TARDIS into a wintry Manhattan area. She finds that old friends are not easily left behind. And has one last adventure with her old friends as the world is set into peril once again.





	1. The Raggedy Woman

The doctor was falling, falling, falling. The wind whipped at her hair and ice stung her eyes. She watched the TARDIS get farther and farther away, hearing the groaning, wheezing sound of it desperately trying to warp off the planet it was on. Her eyes widened as the time rotor exploded, creating a storm of fire and heat within the TARDIS and heard her dear ship moan, slipping back into the time stream. She reached one arm out desperately, but knew in her hearts it was futile. She turned her head downwards and tried to figure out what planet she was falling towards.

Atmosphere with oxygen, that was always good. She could see clouds and faint city lights coming closer and closer as she descended. Nighttime. Quite windy. And snow! _Also,_  she noted, _I’m falling at 9.8 metres per second which makes this planet most likely Earth. Or maybe Mondas. Probably not Mondas._  Despite the high likelihood of catastrophy upon her crash, she grinned a mad grin, the kind that makes your face stretch and your eyes sparkle.  _Oh, brilliant. oh, brilliant._

  
The thought of _oh, brilliant_ dissipated as she felt the cold water strike her. She gasped and felt her right ankle break and her ribs fracture. She would have cried out had the current not swept her under, the frigid water sinking its teeth into her body. She clawed and scratched at the creek bottom, trying to get a handhold, but the current was too strong. It kept tearing her away and bashing her into the mud like an angry verlusian chu’a. Wow, she hadn’t seen one of those in a while. _I should plan a trip to Verlusia- no, wait. I’ve got to get out of this creek first. Ha. Creek. Like a river. River. That word’s sad._  Her mind were always scrabbly after regeneration, but she forced her unnecessary thoughts down and focused on trying to grab hold of something and get out of this freezing water. There! She felt a palm-sized rock that jutted out at just the right angle and gripped it tight. The Doctor clawed upwards and felt a hot flash of pain come from her foot and chest, a stark contrast to the ice-cold water. She gritted her teeth and pushed onwards.

She’d been in the water for about a minute now, but felt no need to breathe. Respiratory bypass system, always useful, she thought to herself as she scraped her way along the riverbed, the current threatening to tear her apart. Finally, she felt her fingers reach the cold air, and she crawled her way onto a shallow shore and took in a deep, relieved breath. She pushed herself into a sitting position and her ankle screamed at her, but she ignored it and forged onwards. Next was forcing herself into standing up, and then one foot in front of the other, while her body felt like it needed to regenerate again. _Oh, right,_ she thought, _I’ve just regenerated so I’ve got some energy to heal myself with. Lucky me!_ Quite the optimist, this face. And a bit daft, but The Doctor has always been a bit daft. She let the golden light curl over her foot and chest, and over any other injuries she had failed to notice. She exhaled, and the energy flew from her mouth and into the atmosphere. She smiled at that.

Another benefit to regeneration energy was the fact that it glowed, so she could now see a good half a metre ahead of her. Green grass, tall trees, the freezing river now behind her and bright city lights in the distance. _I’m like the girl in that movie,_ she thought dimly. _The Disney one about the girl with the magical long hair that glowed when she sang or something. She was drowning with- oh, drowning. I just did that, didn’t I?_  She let her garbled thoughts distract her as she walked towards civilization.

The first thing the doctor noticed was the smell of gasoline. She wrinkled her nose in disgust but continued. Lead-lined, too. That placed her in most likely the 20th century.

Finally, the tree line broke and she found herself in a bustling city. People were everywhere, walking, talking, eating, drinking. The Doctor stumbled along a sidewalk and earned a few glances. She must’ve been a right sight, soaking wet and covered in tattered clothing three sizes too big. But she continued along, with her vision going a bit black at the edges. She heard a few “Are you okays” and other worried tones but she ignored them and kept walking. The people babbling on have American accents, she noticed, so she was in America. Or it’s speak-like-an-American day. Probably the former. Suddenly, she pitched forwards as her head spun. The lights of the buildings danced as she fell towards the pavement. But, just as she was about to touch the ground, a pair of strong arms caught her.

“-okay?” It was a man’s voice. British, but a bit different from hers.

“Hmm?” The doctor mumbled. She tried to turn her head and caught sight of short brown hair and blue eyes through her blurry vision.

“-careful, now. Ma’am?” Another voice. Female, and Scottish. It reminded The Doctor of her previous self and someone she had lost a long, long time ago.

The Doctor turned her head towards this new voice and caught a sight of fiery red hair before blacking out.

...

  
When she awoke, she was being placed on a couch.

“Oh, I think she’s awake. Ma’am?” It was the male voice, full of concern.The Doctor squinted her eyes, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. She saw two blurry figures -her rescuers, she presumed- in a modest looking house. She winced- both from the weariness of regeneration and something else she couldn't quite place.

“..hello?” The doctor managed to murmur, bringing up a hand to scratch at the back of her head.

“Euh, hello there. My name’s Amy,” the Scottish woman began. “We found you stumblin’ around the street and you nearly hit the ground before my husband caught you.”

 _Amy. Amy Amy Amy._  The Doctor could taste the word, bittersweet and full of sorrow, but could not place it.

“Right..” Amy broke the silence. “So sorry to ask, but have you been drinking or something? And by the look of you, at an exploding magician convention next to a lake?”

The Doctor grinned. A small, barely-there grin. “No, at least I don’t think so. And about the magician thing, maybe.”

The man leaned forward, palm upwards. "Can I check your pulse?"

The Doctor briefly frowned, an unknown shadow passing in her mind. But, she ignored it, extending a slender wrist to his waiting hand. He delicately placed two fingers on the inside of her wrist, waiting for the thrum of her hearts.

The Doctor felt something odd. One of her hearts definitely wasn't beating correctly, the other erratic. Probably not a good sign. But something, someone in her mind told her to thank the stars.  _A little off but can pass for a human heartbeat. Thank Rassilon, this is the luckiest you've been in a while._ The Doctor pondered these words. They were coming from her, but felt like the voice of another.

Confusion passed over the man's face, before calm and, strangely, disappointment soon overcame his features. "Heartbeat's a bit... off." He took his fingers off her wrist, giving his wife a silent look, before speaking again. "If it's like that tomorrow, I think we should take you to the hospital-"

"No." The Doctor said, before she realized she had spoken. She blinked, surprised by her own words. "Uh, I mean," she stammered, scrambling for an excuse. "I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow. Jus' need some rest, is all."

Amy and the man exchanged looks, seeming to have a silent conversation in the span of a second. Eventually, they seemed to have reached a conclusion, the man shrugging, before going back to tending to his new patient. Several brief examinations later, they were almost done.

“I don’t think she has any drugs in her system either,” the man said. “Based on her pupils, at least. The Doctor nodded. That was probably correct.

Suddenly, Amy lightly smacked the back of her husband's head. "Oi! Where are your manners? After this whole checkup, and you haven't introduced yourself!" The man began to speak, but Amy cut him off.

“Late introduction, but," Amy playfully shoved the man. "That’s my husband, Rory. He used to be a nurse. A horrible one at that.”

“Hey!” The man pretended to sound annoyed. “Says the former kissogram.”

“Oi!” Now it was the woman’s turn. “I was a great kissogram and you know it.” There was a great level of sass in her voice. “But that’s another story, and we’re probably confusing our guest.”

 _Rory. Amy and Rory_. The doctor knew these names, somewhere deep in her hearts.

“So, what’s your name, stranger?”

 _I’m the Doctor._  The sentence stopped in her throat, entangled in her vocal cords. _John Smith,_  she tried, but that name stuck too.

“Sarah ~~~~ ~~~~,” the lie slipped out easily.

“Well, good to meet you Sarah.” Amy sat down on the couch next to her. “You can stay here for the night, if you want. We won’t ask any questions.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind of you.” The words came out more sincere than she expected. “Actually, I have some questions of my own. I seem to have lost some of my memory..”

The couple glanced at each other. “Well, that’s not good,” said Rory. “Is there anything you can remember?”

“Well, I know my name,” she said. She thought for a moment. “I think I was going somewhere, then I was falling.” She wrinkled her brow. “I don’t remember much after that.”

Amy leaned forward. “Did anyone attack you?”

“Not that I can remember.”

Rory placed a hand on Amy’s shoulder. “Amy, I think we should save the questioning for later,” he turned towards The Doctor. “Is there anything we can do to make you more comfortable?”

“I could use a cup of tea, if you don’t mind.” said The Doctor.

Rory nodded and headed off to where The Doctor presumed was the kitchen.

“I’m gonna go get you a change of clothes,” Amy commented. “You look like you’re about my size.”

“Alright, thanks love.”

The Doctor put her hands in her head as Amy left. She was certain she knew these people. As she tried to remember, Amy walked back, carrying a pair of light blue pajamas. “I’ll go and let you get changed,” Amy said passively. “The bathroom’s down the hall, first door on your left.”

The Doctor nodded, and took the pajamas from Amy.

The bathroom was quaint, with cream walls and a tile floor. A typical bathroom, then. The Doctor took this moment to take a proper look at herself, as she’d only gotten a few seconds in the TARDIS. _TARDIS, hmm._ An important word. It reminded her of home. Something told her to not mention it to the couple.

She dressed herself quickly, slipping on the sky blue pajamas and placing her torn up old clothes on the countertop. She turned towards the mirror, taking a look at her new features. Blonde hair, greenish-hazel eyes. The kind you could get lost in. She scrunched up her face. Nice skin, soft and smooth. Pretty teeth, too. She grinned. This was going to be a good face.

As she walked back to the living room, she heard the clatter of ceramic. Good! Rory had returned with her tea. Hopefully that would settle her erratic heartbeat. Tea was good for the soul, after all. She walked in, and Amy reached out to take her tattered clothes she was holding under her arm.

“Jesus Christ!” Amy sputtered. “It’s like you were shot at! What are these, burn marks?” She gestured at a large marking, which was, indeed, a burn mark. “And I thought you said you weren’t attacked.”

The Doctor sipped her tea. “Well, I don’t remember much. I don’t think I was attacked recently.”

Rory coughed, and Amy sent him a stare. The glance they shared held weight, a question burning in their eyes, the Doctor noticed.

Rory dropped his gaze. “Well, you give her the quiz then.”

“Hmm? What quiz?”

“Don’t worry, it’s only one question.” Amy smiled, a quiet nervousness she was trying to hide evident deep in her eyes.

The Doctor straightened. “I might not remember the answer, if you’re asking me something like that.”

“Oh, it’s not about something of the past,” Amy said. “It’s about something happening right now, actually.”

“Well, enough stalling then. Ask away.”

Amy looked at her. There was something in her eyes, deep and old. A flash of fear, a cloud of sadness. And just a glint of hope.

“How would you describe your clothes?”

The Doctor looked at her. “What?”

“The clothes you arrived in, I mean. How would you describe them?”

The Doctor thought for a moment. “Uh.. torn up? Tattered?”

Amy tensed. “Anything else?”

“Like they’ve been put through a cheese grater?”

Amy and Rory’s shoulders slumped, with both relief and sadness. “Well, that answers that,” said Rory.

The Doctor eyed them. “Am I missing something?”

Amy looked at her again, this time missing the sorrow and fear, and even the hope. “No, don’t worry about it sweetheart.” She placed her hand on The Doctor’s shoulder. “How about we show you to your room?”

The door opened with a creak, revealing a striped green bed with a pretty blue painting of a cat over the headboard. “Nice painting!” The Doctor commented.

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Amy seemed distracted. “But anyways, call us if you need anything. It’s, what-“ she glanced at a clock on the wall. “1:30 AM. You should probably go to sleep. Sleeping’s a good thing, and who knows, might help jog your memory.”

“Right, thanks for letting me stay here, Amy.”

Amy smiled. “No problem. Sleep now, and we’ll sort out all this in the morning. Sweet dreams.” And with that, Amy closed the door, leaving The Doctor alone with her thoughts.

She laid on the bed, her hair spreading out like a halo, and closed her eyes. She was certain she knew these people. They were important to her. She could feel something deep in her chest, a weight pulling her down. Guilt. Her eyes opened in surprise. What had she done that she couldn’t remember?

 _Please, go._  A voice. She lifted her head to look for the source, but found none. Then she realized it was in her head. _Please, go,_ it repeated. _It will hurt too much._

 _What will hurt?_ She almost said out loud.

_You know._

_I really don’t,_  she thought. _And who are you?_

_You know._

Then she felt the itch deep in her bones, the urge, the need to run and never look back. To leave and loose all responsibility, for better or for worse. She felt the feeling run through her body, leaving her feeling fidgety and frustrated. She squinted her eyes, and forced herself to breathe evenly. These people are nice, she reasoned. _Why should I just up and go? The least I can do is stay here and appreciate their hospitality._

_“Sweet dreams.”_

Dreaming sounded pretty good right now. She felt the all too familiar voice in the back of her head, but she ignored it, and let sleep carry her into the abyss of nothing.

 

***

  
Amy sat next to her husband, taking comfort in his warmth.

“Quite a strange lady, that Sarah,” Amy began.

“Yeah,” said Rory. He placed a hand on her knee. “Even if it’s not him, she could still be right up his alley, you know? Could be an alien.”

Amy turned towards her husband. “Could we see him?” The words came out more hopeful than she intended.

Rory’s gaze saddened. “I didn’t say that.”

“I almost thought we found him,” she said, a weight in her throat.

“I know.” Rory’s words couldn’t convey his feelings of both disappointment and relief. “But we both know that’s impossible.”

Amy felt her eyes begin to water, and hugged her husband. “I miss him,” she squeezed him tightly.

Rory placed a comforting hand on his wife’s back. “I know.”

 


	2. Sudden Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oof

The Doctor awoke to sunlight streaming gently through the window. She heard birds tweeting, and sat up. About 8 AM, her biological clock told her.

She arched her back and stretched. She’d slept much more than what was normal for the usual Time Lord. Lifting the soft green covers off her body, she stood up and walked to the door.

It opened with a long creak, surprising the Doctor with the sudden sound. She continued her way down the hall, and found herself in the kitchen. It was then that she noticed something dangerous.

This was a fixed point.

She could feel it in her gut. The Doctor gulped. She hated fixed points. Too surefire and so easy to break. But there was more to it- this was a particularly nasty one. Had she been here before? No wonder the TARDIS refused to land, this place was practically a giant bomb-

A creak on the hardwood floor made her turn around.

The Doctor froze, like a deer in headlights. She felt her blood run cold and she could do nothing but stand there as she felt her emotions billow beneath her skin.

“Are you okay?” Amy, Amelia Pond, the girl who waited, asked her.

The Doctor knew why she shouldn’t be here.

She forced her body to compose.

“O-oh, yes, I’m fine,” she faked a smile. “You just surprised me, is all.” God, even looking at her made her hearts swell with grief.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Amy smiled gently, trying to break the feeling in the air.

“Right, uh, thank you for letting me stay here, again,” she averted her gaze. “I think I should be on my way now though.” She made a move to walk past Amy, but she stuck out her arm. “Hey now, you’re still wearing my pajamas, and you haven’t got any proper clothes to wear!” Amy looked her in the eyes, and sincerity filled her voice as she noticed the fear in the Doctor's eyes. “Tell me, what’s wrong?”

The Doctor gulped, throat dry. "I uh.. I have something I have to attend to,” she said quickly. “It’s particularly urgent, so I really must go.”

“In pajamas? My pajamas?”

“Well, uh, if you don’t mind...”

Amy crossed her arms. “I do mind!”

It was then that Rory decided to walk in. “What’s with all the noise?”

Rory, Rory the Roman. His face sent a shock through the Doctor’s body, remembering all the times he’d died, his bravery and his humanity.

She really shouldn’t be here.

The Doctor forced her body into movement, forced on the bravado she wore when she needed people to listen to her. “Okay okay I’ll tell you!” She still couldn’t meet their gaze, but she had their attention.

The Doctor swallowed. “You both are in serious danger.”

The couple exchanged a glance. “Like we haven’t heard that before,” Amy said, then her gaze became serious. “We can help you. If you need anything, we can help. Trust us.” She spoke with a familiar kindness in her voice.

Oh Amy. Always so compassionate.

“I really can’t get you two involved,” the Doctor said. “It’s dangerous.”

“Believe us, we know danger,” Rory spoke up. “I’m sure, whatever it is, if you’re in trouble with someone or something worse, we can help.”

The Doctor clenched her jaw. They were not making this easy. With every passing moment the Doctor shared with them, the more she reminisced about their lives together. The laughs, the cries, and the deaths. She forced her voice out of her throat. “I am a complete stranger to you,” she said. The words hurt. “Why would you help me?”

“I once knew a man,” Amy began. “He was very old, and very sad.” Her hands trembled, but she remained steady. “And he was very kind.” Her eyes shined with a determination the Doctor thought she’d never see again.

“And if he taught us anything,” her voice cracked, but she kept on. “It was to be kind.”

Rory laid a supportive hand on his wife’s shoulder. “We won’t judge. We promise.”

The Doctor felt her hands shaking, and clenched them into fists. She stared at the floor and forced her breathing to even out. “Look,” she clawed the word out of her throat, struggling to get it past the lump in her throat. “You really cannot help me.” Rory’s mouth opened, but she spoke over him. “If you get involved, it could get bad. Very bad.”

Amy stepped forward and placed a hand on the Doctor’s arm, which made her jump as if an electric current had gone through her.

“Sarah, I know that whatever you’re going through, it’s hard, unimaginably so. But please, don’t go through it alone. And if you can’t share it with us, then please, share it with someone you love.”

 _But I can’t,_ The Doctor wanted to scream. Instead, she stepped back from Amy, unable to withstand her touch any longer.

The Doctor couldn’t speak another word, couldn’t meet their eyes. She was helpless. But there was one thing she could do.

Run.

So that was what she did. She leaped past them, nearly elbowing Rory in the face. She heard a gasp from Amy as she rushed past her old friends. She sprinted through the narrow hallway and gripped the brass doorknob, swinging open the door as if her life depended on it.

She heard a yell from inside, but ignored it, running out and finally freeing herself from the memories that threatened to swallow her whole.

“Sarah!” Rory had gotten to the front door. “Come ba- look out!”

Something hit her on the back of the head, making a sickening thunk. She gasped in pain, falling to the ground and looked up, only to see a man wearing a black suit. With her vision whirling and ears ringing, she squinted and tried to discern what he was doing. He pointed towards Amy and Rory and said something, but The Doctor couldn’t make it out. She saw his left hand had been curled into a fist- which she assumed had been used to strike her. 

Two fuzzy black shapes rushed past the man above her, and the Doctor heard Amy shout. She curled her fingers into fists, and tried to lift her head up off the ground, but she felt a heavy pressure on her head, holding her down. “No, ma’am,” The man had crouched down and placed a cold hand on her head, weighing her down like lead. “We’ve been looking very hard for you. You’re not getting away that easily.”

As her senses faded, she felt the cold click of metal on her wrists. Handcuffs. “Pile ‘em in the car,” was the last phrase she could make out before her vision faded to black for the second time in less than a day.

 

***

The Doctor woke up to darkness. She tried to sit up, but groaned from the sudden throb of pain from her head. She tried to bring her hands toward her face but felt the steely grasp of the handcuffs biting into her wrists.

“So, you’re awake.”

The Doctor stiffened. A voice, Scottish, female and... oh God. Again?

“Mind telling us what’s going on?”

The Doctor suppressed a sigh. She should’ve known she couldn’t stay away from these two. At least the throbbing pain of her head helped to distract her from her internal turmoil. She’d have to try to not slip up and reveal herself.

The Doctor took a deep breath in, and prepared to speak. At least she couldn’t see them in the dark. 

“To be honest, I have no idea,” her voice was raspy.

Rory huffed. “Well, this is just  _great.”_

“I dunno, could be worse,” Amy chimed in. “Could be aliens pointing laser guns at us.” The Doctor felt Amy’s gaze on her. “That reminds me, Sarah, are you an alien?”

“...What draws you to that conclusion?”

“ _Well_ ,” Amy said with a hint of frustration in her voice, “We’ve just been locked up by seemingly government agents and are currently being transported to who the hell knows where.”

The Doctor tilted her head. Now that she was paying attention, she could feel the vibrations of being on the road through the metal floor of the lorrey.

She sighed. “Yes, I’m an alien.” Great, now onto the lies. “I was on my way out of this solar system when my, uh, ship got caught in your gravitational field and...so on.”

The Doctor heard Amy sigh. “Well, I can’t say I’m surprised,” Amy said. “Hey, uh, have you heard of a man called the Doctor? He’s a good friend of mine, an alien, like you.”

The Doctor closed her eyes tightly. “What, the bloke in the blue box who goes around messing with planets?” She tried to speak in a flat tone. “I’ve heard of him.”

“Oh,” Amy said, disappointed. The Doctor’s eyes had adjusted enough to make out the shape of Amy in the darkness. She sat back and leaned into what The Doctor assumed was Rory.

“I know it’s a big universe, but if you ever see him out there in space, tell him Amy and Rory say hi.”

The Doctor winced. “Right.”

Rory suddenly spoke up. “So, uh, what’s gonna happen to us? Are they gonna _Men In Black_ us and send us on our merry way home?”

“That’d be nice. Hopefully they’ll let you two go and just take me somewhere.” The Doctor swallowed. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for dragging you two into this.”

“Eh, it’s okay. We needed some excitement anyways.” Amy said.

The Doctor smiled thinly.

“But what are they going to do to you?” Rory said, concern laced in his voice. Would you look at that, the Doctor thought. Complete compassion for a stranger. _Ah, Humans. Will they ever stop surprising me?_

The Doctor leaned her head back, wincing from the pain it sent through her head and into her spine. “Who knows,” she said. “Maybe they’ll just send me off, or maybe they’ll chop me up into little bits and-“ Oh, that wasn’t helping. “Or, uh, preferably not that,” she continued.

Amy snorted. “Yeah, hopefully not that.” The Doctor smiled. It was nice to talk to them again, even if she knew it was temporary. At least she’d stopped freaking out over it, for now at least. She knew the pain would come back, sooner or later. It always does.

She pushed it back for now. “Why do you two care for me? I’m not even a member of your species,” she asked, but The Doctor already knew the answer.

“Like I said earlier, we’ve been taught to always care for others.” Amy said. “The Doctor taught us that.”

Suddenly, they felt the lorrey stutter to a halt.

“Well, looks like we’re here,” Rory said apprehensively.

The Doctor heard muffled voices talking and the jingle of keys, then the clicking of a lock. The door swung open, the three of them screwing their eyes shut with the sudden intrusion of daylight.

“Alright, you three,” mumbled one of the men in an American accent. “Rodgers, you grab the blonde one.”

The man, 'Rodgers,' grabbed the Doctor’s forearm. She shivered at his freezing touch. He could really use some mittens.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory stumbled out of the lorrey and into a forest. The men lead them through without so much as an acknowledgment, only saying “come on” or “hurry up” if one of them stumbled. After several minutes of walking, they came upon a black building, looking out of place amidst the greens of the forest.

The door opened with a cool hiss, feeling very wrong in the early 20th century. The trio were forced inside, once again sending them into darkness.

Suddenly, the room lit up with a low hum, lighting the area with warm yellow lights. The area around revealed itself in the light, showing a greenish-black control panel, almost organic looking. It reminded the Doctor of her grunge phase.

“Well,” The Doctor began. “This isn’t of Earth.”

“Oh really? What was your first clue?” Amy said sarcastically.

“Quiet,” Rodgers said, voice like steel. 

“And as for you, Mr. Rodgers,” she swirled around, taking the man by surprise. She reached forwards, grabbing the man’s cheek and ripping off his face with a sickening squelching sound. She threw the flesh over her shoulder, where it landed with a plop. “So!” She said, turning back to Rodgers. Where his skull should have been, cold metal shined. A droid.

The Doctor peered at the droid. “Hmm. Not a very good model. Can’t even regulate a realistic human temperature!” She threw the handcuffs at the droid, which it caught. “At least the reflexes are halfway decent.”

“We have no need for your comments, Source.”

The Doctor scoffed. “Source? What’s that supposed to mean?!”

The droid ignored her, shuffling past the Doctor and reaching the control panel.

“You all have been brought here for a reason,” said Rodgers in monotone. “You are not of this time.”

The room was silent, except for the quiet hum of the alien technology.

“How do you know that?” Rory blurted out.

Rodgers turned to him, machinery whirring. “We have our ways.”

“Who’s we?” The Doctor interjected. “You’re just a droid, who’s your boss?”

“I will not disclose.”

The Doctor sighed. “Of course you won’t.”

Suddenly, all the Droids tilted their heads to one side, as if they were receiving instructions. Rodgers stepped forwards.

“You will be contained.”

“With what?” The Doctor asked. “I’ve already gotten your handcuffs off.”

Rodgers reached over and  flipped a switch on the console. The Doctor could only get out a short “oh” before the floor opened up beneath each of the three and pulled them into darkness.

They all fell together, before colliding with a surprisingly soft ground.

The Doctor scrambled into a kneeling position, smacking Rory in the face with her knee.

“Ow!”

“Oh, sorry Rory.” The Doctor attempted to pat him on the head, but missed in the dark.

Amy was able to stand the quickest, and helped her husband and the Doctor to their feet.

“You know, this morning I was going to go to the market,” Rory rambled. “I was going to buy some tomatoes.”

Amy hit Rory lightly on the head. “Quit whining, Rory. Isn’t this so much more fun?”

Rory scratched his head. “Maybe for you it is. Back when we traveled, I was always a lot more concerned about safety then you and and the Doctor were.”

More silence filled the room.

The Doctor winced. What should she say? She hated how her name brought them so much grief. _If I could take it all back, I would. If I could save you, I would,_ she wanted to scream. But, she knew if she told them who she truly was it would hurt so much more. She had to stay hidden.

“Don’t worry, Amy.” The Doctor said, trying to keep any sorrow out of her voice. “I’m sure you’ll see your friend again, whether it be soon or later.” That was a lie, but it was all she could manage for now.

“He always was horrible at timing,” Amy smiled despite her sadness.

The Doctor took in a deep breath, breaking the moment. She hated mushy stuff like this. “Anyways, let’s try not to get used up for what these aliens want us for first.”

She waded her way through the darkness, and finally came into contact with a wall. The wall was soft and spongy, like, well, a sponge. She felt along the wall till she came into contact with a seam, and pulled, exposing the faint gleam of energy.

“Ohhh!” The Doctor smiled. “I know what they want us for!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2!!! Thank you guys so much for the nice comments. Working on ch 3 now ;)


	3. Cords & Cables

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaa sorry it’s been forever!!

“And what would that be, exactly?” The Doctor could hear Amy’s impatience clear as day in her voice.

She ignored her tone, feeling unusually used to it, as if she’d only spoken to them yesterday and not millennia ago.

The Doctor flexed her fingers, trying to dissipate the thought. She focused back on the glowing opening in the wall, where cables flowed with golden energy. “Well, you see,” she held up a bunch of the cables in her hand to give the couple a better view. It felt warm against her skin. “These are filled with Artron energy.” She was gratified to see flashes of recognition in Amy and Rory’s eyes. She was glad to see they still had their edge.

“That’s like... time travel energy, right?” Amy said. The Doctor shrugged in response. “Sorta.” The Doctor pulled on the cables, trying to figure out which way the every flowed.“More accurately, it’s the energy of the time vortex. It passes through every time traveller, and can be used as an energy source. That’s why they want us.”

Amy squinted. “You’re a time traveller as well as an alien?”

The Doctor paused. “Well, yes.” She tried to shrug it off. “Only a bit though, I had a vortex manipulator once.” The Doctor felt their gazes on her. “Wait, if you’re a time traveller, could you get us out of here? We’re not originally from here.” Rory asked hopefully. The Doctor cringed. Here was one conversation she was hoping to avoid. “Well, y’see, I lost it a while ago, so....”

“Oh.”

“Yeah...”

Suddenly Amy spoke up. “Wait, how the hell do you know we’re time travellers? We never told you.”

Uh oh. The Doctor nervously played with the wires, refusing to look at them. She could feel their glimmers of hope, deep in their hearts. She had to squash them, no matter how much it hurt. If she didn’t, it would kill her. “Eh, just a thing I can do,” she tried to say nonchalantly. “Just a time traveller... thing.” _Very convincing_ , said the voice in her head. She told it to shut up.

The Doctor straightened herself. “But anyways, why’re they using time travellers as a source of Artron energy? There are far easier ways to get some.” She scratched her head. “Why go to such lengths when there are better methods?”

Rory shrugged. “Must be desperate.”

“Maybe,” muttered The Doctor, “Or maybe I’m missing something...”

Suddenly, The Doctor tilted her head, listening. She could hear a noise. A faint, pulsating sound. It was coming from deeper inside the ship. “D’you hear that?”

Rory and Amy eyed each other. “Hear what?”

The Doctor rolled her eyes. Humans had such limited senses. She wondered how they coped. “There’s a sound,” she declared vaguely. “I suggest we follow it.” She marched off into the darkness, leaving her friends with no choice but to follow.

***

After half an hour of walking, Amy felt no closer to their goal, but her new alien companion seemed dead set on following that sound. Whenever she raised concern, “Sarah” (she doubted that was her real name) shushed her and kept her head tilted, intently listening. The alien led them through several twists and turns of the strange ship, the spongy floor giving a soft resistance when she stepped. It felt like she was inside a giant monster’s gullet. Despite her trepidation, she could feel that old excitement coursing through her. She smiled in the dark. She knew who she would see. She knew she’d see her old friend again, sooner or later. Amy knew the chances were worse than impossible, but this? A time traveller drops on her doorstep, and she’s taken into a terrifying alien ship, trying to find her way out. It couldn’t scream “Doctor” harder if it tried. Amelia wasn’t one to believe in fate, but this had to be. Amy would be so happy to see his stupid face again. He’d save her, like always, even if his timing was off, like it usually was. “ _Come along, Pond,_ ” he’d say, with a twinkle in his eye and there they would go, Amy and Rory and The Doctor, off into the universe, like always.

“Does Sarah know where she’s going?” Rory whispered, bringing Amy out of her thoughts. She glanced at him in the dark.

Amy shrugged. “I dunno, but there’s not much else we can do,” she smiled at her husband, excited.

Rory just stared, before sighing. He ran his fingers over his face. “Amy,” he began, bringing his voice even lower, “I don’t think it’s healthy for you to be excited about this,” he said.

Amy crossed her arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She quickened her pace, making Rory jog to catch up with her. “I think you know exactly what I’m taking about,” he said, trying to keep his voice low.

Amy huffed. “Well, sorry for being excited for once in our boring little lives.”

“Boring? Little? Is that how you really feel?” Rory touched his wife’s arm, trying to catch her gaze.

Amy sighed. “No,” she said. She looked up at him. “But what if it can all change? What if we can finally go back?” She couldn’t keep the note of desperation out of her voice.

“You know we’re not going to see him again.” Rory whispered. Amy felt a pang run through her. She turned back to him, irrational hope in her eyes. It burned there like a fire eating at a page of a book, erasing all rationality and so hard to put out. “But do you really know that? Think of all the times he’s made the impossible possible, all the times he’s saved us and others,” her hands shook. “Why couldn’t he show up now?”

Rory looked at the ground. “If he could have saved us, wouldn’t he have done it already?”

Amy had to hope, she had to.

“Okay!” Sarah clapped suddenly, startling the couple. “I think we’re almost there.”

Amy heard a tightness in her voice, but she didn’t know why.

 

****

Rory sighed. His legs were aching by now. He hoped they’d be out of this soon. But, deep in his mind, Rory felt that old excitement.

That part of him was just like his wife- wanting the Doctor back, all of time and space to see. But the more rational side of him knew this was better. He had something that the Doctor could never give him- safety. Rory would never have to face losing his wife to some horrible alien scheme- at the most he’d worry about his wife cussing out the neighbours for leaving the trash in front of their door. Well, at least until now, with whatever is going on with this mysterious woman. He had to admit- it did sound exactly like one of the Doctor’s many adventures, but the Doctor said himself that it would be impossible to go back to New York; and that man had done the impossible. Rory watched him save the day in the most hopeless of scenarios, the Doctor always had a plot or scheme to save the day in the end. If this were truly impossible, Rory believed the Doctor wholeheartedly. Rory rubbed his face; he hoped this ordeal would be over soon.

A pulsating sound drove Rory out of his thoughts. He cocked his head, listening.

“Ah, finally hear it?” Sarah asked, noticing his movement. “Sounds like a heartbeat, doesn’t it?” The alien glanced around the pitch-dark of the cavernous ship.

“Yeah, that’s not really making me feel any better,” mumbled Rory. Sarah shrugged in response, bending down as she did so. Rory watched her open another panel, this time on the floor. More glowing cables flowed, emitting soft golden light, but this time there was a centre- a glowing sphere. Rory watched it pulsate, emitting the unnerving sound.

“Now we’re talking,” murmured Sarah, a grin on her face. She glanced back up at them, and that was when Rory noticed something- the look on her face whenever she saw him or his wife. She seemed to go through a whole slew of emotions; sadness, fear, and something else... regret? But why? She had never even met them before, unless... no, they already ruled out that option. It was totally impossible. Besides, that would be weird, even for the Doctor. But as soon as the look was in Sarah’s eyes, it was gone.

“Is that the centre of all the uh, Artron energy?” Amy said, which Sarah nodded to. “Seems like it. This is very, very old technology,” Sarah murmured, tugging at the collar of her borrowed pajamas, brow furrowed. “Last time I saw this stuff was on Alagaxi III, in the 42nd trimester of the Sollux moon.” Rory blinked. “Uh, okay?”

“So, this is like the engine?” Amy piped up. “And since they robot dude called you source, you must have some way to power it, right?” The alien smiled. “Smart girl! Yep, they’re powering their ship on Artron energy.” She placed a hand on her chin. “But like I said, using time travellers is a very strange way to do it. There are far easier ways, even on this hunk of rock.”

Rory ignored her rock comment. “Why now? Why us?”

Sarah cringed. “Well, that may be my fault... sorry.” She glanced at the couple sheepishly. “Though, this was probably coming your way for a long time- they’ve been waiting to collect you two when you’re ripe, per se. The more time you spend displaced, the more Artron energy builds up. I may have ah... excited the process.”

“Because you’re a time traveller?” Amy blurted. “But how did you ‘excite’ it?”

“Well, I travelled, or at least used to, quite a bit. When time travellers interact with one another, they leave tiny cracks in the fabric of space time, and since I’ve done so much, it’s like, uh...” She grasped for a metaphor. “Oh! Mentos in a coke bottle. You two are the Mentos, and I'm the coke. We interact and... BOOM!” She pushed her hands out like an explosion to illustrate her point. “Huge amounts of Artron energy are released.”

Rory blinked. “So none of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t shown up?” Amy gave him a sharp kick in the shin, but it was too late. An awkward silence filled the cavern.

Sarah avoided their eyes. “Well, uh,” She stuttered, “It was bound to happen, eventually.” Suddenly she brightened. “But you’re lucky I'm here! I’ll get you both out of here, and you two can go spend your lives, with cars and concrete and absolutely no alien shenanigans.” She drew in a sharp breath and pointed back at the glowing sphere. “Look! A thing!” She squatted down again to poke at something on the side of the sphere Rory hadn’t noticed before.  Some sort of black rectangle? Sarah tapped on it twice and as soon as it lit up, Rory knew what it was- a touchscreen! Rory hadn’t seen one of those in ages. It gave him a strange sort of nostalgia, which was weird because it hadn’t been invented yet. Sarah continued to tap on the screen, sorting through some strange symbols of what Rory assumed was some alien language. “Oh, it’s from Karatua IV!” Sarah suddenly exclaimed. She continued to tap different symbols, letting out occasional factoids and bits of information. She seemed almost childlike in her glee, almost... Doctor-y. Rory shook his head to clear the thought, but Amy turned to him, looking like an excited puppy. He sighed inwardly. He knew she still had faith in her Doctor, no matter how much Rory tried to dissuade her. The Doctor was never coming back, he wanted to say, but she’d never believe that. No matter how hard Rory tried to reason with her she’d still believe in her Raggedy Man. She was a stubborn one, he knew from experience. He smiled gently and held his wife’s hand, sharing an intimate moment while the strange woman continued to blabber jargon and names of alien tech.

“Oi, you two!” Sarah said suddenly, breaking Rory out of his thoughts. “I’m saying some pretty important stuff here!” She said indignantly, hands cartoonishly on hips. Rory heard Amy hold back a chuckle. This woman was strangely endearing.

“Now that I have your upmost attention,” Sarah said, moving her hand slowly back to the screen. She tapped a symbol which flashed red. “This is how we got down here,” she said. “This ship is like a colony,” she began. Every bit of this ship is a tiny robot.” Amy and Rory glanced down. To Rory’s eyes it still looked like nothing but like weird spongy floor.

“Tiny squishy robots?” Amy said, half-joking. Her question earned an amused eye roll from Sarah. “Yes, tiny squishy robots. This symbol tells them to collapse and form a tunnel,” she said, finger hovering over the screen. “Good for moving cargo.”

“Or people, in our case,” Rory said.

“Indeed.” Sarah rubbed the back of her neck. “The one they used earlier was to get us from the loading dock to the storage area.” She glanced around the huge, cavernous walls. “A very empty storage area.” She snapped her attention back to the symbol. “This one, however, will take us to the bridge.” She eyed the couple. “Who’s ready to meet our kidnappers?”

“I am!” Amy said too quickly in Rory’s opinion, but that was enough for Sarah. She tapped the symbol twice, and suddenly, a foot away from them, a hole started opening in the soft floor. It poured like sand in an hourglass, escaping towards the bottom.

Sarah glanced at them. “Once more unto the breach, dear friends.” Rory was just about to question why they were friends when they had known each other for less than a day when the floor beneath him shifted, joining the other tiny bots in their attempt to follow the symbol’s command. A millisecond later and the trio were back to falling in total darkness.


	4. The Alien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy, Rory, and the Doctor continue their journey into the belly of the ship. But this time, they finally meet their captor.

There were no elbows in faces upon this landing; much to Rory’s pleasure, though they still landed in a heap. Rory ended up face first in the spongy floor, or tiny robots... whatever they were. Sarah hopped off them first, leaning down to help the couple back onto their feet. Rory stood and looked around. It was actually well-lit this time, no need to rely on the dim light they had gotten used to. It opened up like a cathedral, walls and ceiling made of the same material as the floor. 

“Well, this is an improvement,” said Sarah, stretching her arms. “Much better than those dingy halls.”

Before he could say anything, she leapt off again and all Rory could do was let out an exasperated sigh. Luckily, she didn’t go far this time.

She stopped in front of a rise in the floor, crouching down to examine it. Rory assumed it was more alien tech. Why couldn’t these aliens make more distinct interfaces? It seemed like a hassle to have your computer look just like your floors, in Rory’s opinion. But Sarah seemed to understand it anyways, tapping bits of it that would glow in response until a touchscreen (Rory would kill to use one of those again) rose from the floor.

Amy decided to disrupt Sarah. “I thought you promised me kidnappers,” Amy said, poking the woman on the shoulder. She earned a wry smile in response, though Rory could still see something hidden in the depths of her eyes. “Don’t you worry, Pond. We’ll see our kidnappers soon. In fact, right now!” She slammed her hand on a green button, which prompted an eerie whining noise to sound. Rory winced and covered his ears, and Amy did the same, while Sarah seemed unaffected.

A loud groaning sound accompanied the whining, and Rory felt the floor shift. He hoped it wasn’t time for another trip down a chute. He was in luck though, because instead of caving inwards, something pushed out. It spun outwards, rising higher and higher. Rory could see bits of metal and machinery alongside the all-too familiar spongy stuff. On top of the column of materials there was what looked like a dark glass cage, where something moved inside.

Sarah just looked at the thing, not intimidated in the slightest. “Oi!” She shouted, cupping a hand around her mouth. “Why don’t you come down here so we can see what you look like!” She was greeted by a shift in the machine, something clunking loudly. Soon an opening appeared where a grimy voice crawled through.

“I have no need to see you primitive beings,” hissed the voice. It sounded like a dog howling mixed with a deflating balloon.

“Primitive? Not me, mate.” Sarah seemed totally in her element. It was almost magical to watch. “You tried scanning? “‘Cause I’m not from here, like you.”

The voice wheezed in response. Rory saw something flutter inside the cage. Sarah continued to stand her ground, continuing to not look scared in the slightest, which might’ve been the most impossible thing he’d seen all day. Sarah shrugged nonchalantly. “Suit yourself. But let’s cut to the chase. Why do you need Artron energy from us? You do know there’s a rift that’s just spilling some out in England, free for the taking.”

The alien shifted in the cage. “We have done what is.... necessary.”

“What do you mean, necessary?” asked Sarah. When she got no response, she huffed in frustration. “Why is everyone always so vague?! I swear, this would be much easier if people gave me the answers from the beginning.” Suddenly, something moved at the bottom of the cage. Rory stared as a tentacle-like thing shot out, stopping just an inch from his face. He could see gears and intricate-looking designs inside of the thing’s translucent covering. Some sort of liquid flowed through it, creating little bubbles among the cogs.  He moved his face away, trying to keep still and not cause the thing to attack him, which, considering Rory’s luck, it was probably going to anyways. 

“Ooh! Now _there’s_ a scanner!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Rory saw Sarah gawking over the tentacle thing. Rory gulped. “Uh, S-Sarah, do you by any chance, know what this is and whether or not it’ll kill me?”

Sarah waved him off. “Eh, just a scanner, like I said,” her eyes lit up. “But what a pretty one! Looks homemade.” The tentacle whirred in front of Rory’s nose for a second longer, before moving to scan Amy, who let out a yelp of surprise. It soon moved to Sarah, who continued to stare it down. Rory hoped she was coming up with a plan.

Suddenly, the tentacle whipped forward, snaking past Sarah and Rory. It was no more than a blur as it wrapped around Amy’s leg. She didn’t even have time to react as she was yanked forward towards the centre towards the column. She yelped as she was suspended by her ankle in the air, her hair like a cascading red waterfall. 

Rory surged forward. “Let her go!” He snarled the words out, thoughts of Roman combat training flooding his mind. He was momentarily stopped by Sarah’s arm. He incredulously looked at her, wondering why the hell she would stop him from saving his wife, the woman he loved most, when he froze. The look in her eyes. It was like they were simultaneously burning and freezing. He could see years of boiling rage, anguish and fear coming to the surface. At that moment, she looked ancient and forever, and he knew that look.

“Put her down.” Her voice was flat and emotionless, yet somehow pulsating with malice and threat. Her stance was normal and she was still short, but Rory could have sworn she was three times her size. Rory gulped. It was like a dark fog had settled in the ship, weighing Rory down with a heavy sense of dread and foreboding.

“I won’t repeat myself.” She stepped forward, and Rory could have sworn even the floor recoiled at her terrifying aura.

“And? What shall you do, source?” The intercom hissed out, but did nothing to dissipate the heavy feeling in the room. Sarah looked straight up at the glass cage, and even not in her gaze, Rory could feel her staring straight into the alien’s soul. “You really don’t wanna know.”

Somehow, the alien seemed unphased. “There is nothing you can do. You are powerless.” When Sarah tried to take another step, the floor rose up and formed partial walls above her, blocking her path to Amy. When she moved to the side to try and sidestep them, more appeared.

“If you dare try to reach the human, she will be killed,” the wheezing voice said. Rory felt rage boiling within him, but Sarah cut him to the chase. “Finally using your ship against us, eh? I guess you do have half a brain cell left.” Her eyes flicked back up to the cage. “Behind these machines and stuck up there in your little cage, typing out commands to do the work, threatening our friend. _You’re a coward_.” She let those three last words hang in the air, daring anyone to break the silence.

After what seemed like an eternity, the intercom hissed. “I do what needs to be done. Step again and your friend will die.” Suddenly, Sarah flashed a predatory smile, like a shark eyeing its prey. “I really doubt that.”

Suddenly a massive shaking filled the room. Rory held on to Sarah as the intercom screeched and Amy swung back and forth. Rory desperately hoped his wife was okay. Based on her screams of Scottish obscenities, it seemed like she was doing alright. 

Rory turned to Sarah. “What did you do?”

Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “I just hacked into the ship’s system, back when I was getting Mr. Alien over there to show up for us. Hacking isn’t too hard with artron-based tech.” The playfulness in her voice from earlier was gone. “So, don’t try anything, mate. I made quite a few edits to your systems,” she said, leaning forward. “Including one very important change: any harm of human life on this ship will result in immediate self-destruction of this vessel.”

Rory blinked. That sounded incredibly convenient. “How the hell did you do that?” Sarah waved him off. “Shush Rory! I’m working here.” She cleared her throat, and turned back to the alien. “You hear me?!”

A loud, frustrated growl emanated from within along with a loud alarm, and Sarah smirked in response. “Did you find my blockers? Told ya any attempt to harm human life’ll terminate this ship. I don’t lie. And,” she continued, eyes glittering mischievously, “You’ve just wasted your only warning. Any more attempts and you’ll get no pretense before you blow up into a million little pieces.”

“You will not get away with this!” the alien howled, but Sarah just turned away, eyes focused on the most important objective: saving Amy. Without another word to the alien, she grabbed Rory’s hand. “Now let’s go save your wife.”

Rory felt it again, the bubbling in his chest. Hope, fear, wonder, astonishment, and... nostalgia. Before he could dwell on it, Sarah pulled him forward.

But, just as they stepped forward, another pillar blocked her. She hissed in something that was decidedly not English, and her eyes were dark and calculating. “Damn it,” she cursed. “Bloody alien over there must’ve decided to have his main defences in here set to a different system. It’ll just keep blocking me.” She looked down, somehow staying still amidst the chaos. “I can’t get it down.”

Rory wasted no time. “You can’t save Amy?”

Sarah suddenly looked up at him, blazing righteous fury in her eyes. She placed a comforting hand on Rory’s own. “Not now, but I promise we’ll return for her,” she looked back up at the cage. “Ya year that, coward? We’re coming back, and if you so much as touched a single hair on her head you’ll have me to deal with. And unlike you, I follow through on my threats. Now, it’s time to leave!” She suddenly crouched down, pressing a hand to the floor and, to nobody’s surprise, another interface rose out of the floor. But before Sarah could place her hand upon the device, Rory grabbed her wrist.

“Sarah.” Rory knew what he needed to say. “We can’t just leave her.”

Sarah straightened. Rory could almost see the gears turning in her head. She pulled her arm out of Rory’s grasp with surprising strength. “Rory.” Sarah addressed him with the same tone as he did, cold and threatening. “I have no choice.”

Rory snarled. “That isn’t good enough!” Just for a second, Rory noticed something strange in Sarah’s eyes. Hurt. But as soon as it appeared, it was gone; replaced with steely cold. The mask was back on.

“Rory, believe me when I tell you this. I will come back for her. I promise you, she will face no harm.” She waved her arm. “I mean it. This ship’ll blow up if-”

“Yes, I heard you the first time.” He remained unmoved.

“Oi!” A loud shout came from behind the pillars. “Don’t I get a say in this?!”

“Amy!” Rory was happy just to hear her voice he turned towards her voice, trying in vain to see his beautiful wife.

Amy continued to swing back and forth. “Let’s cut to the chase. So, I’ll be fine if I stay here?”

Before he could say anything, Sarah stepped forward. “Yes. Our kidnapper cannot physically harm you in any way.”

“Okay then.” Rory could feel her eyes on him, even though he couldn’t see her. “Rory. Go with her, I’ll be fine. I’ve been through worse.”

Rory couldn’t argue with that. But still, she was his bloody wife! He’d go to hell and back for her, and he had. He couldn’t leave her again-

“Now that that’s settled,” Sarah began. Rory suddenly remembered she was there. He turned towards the alien, who was now standing alarmingly close to the interface. Before he could stop her, she pressed her hand down.  _Shit!_

Before he could even utter a word, the ship shook even harder, Rory feeling the tell-tale movement of the floor getting ready to swallow them.

At a last moment of comfort, Sarah put her hands against the spongy wall blocking her from Amy, desperately trying to see her.  “Amy, I promise we will get you out of here.” Rory felt the floor shift. A flash of red hair swung by Rory’s vision, between the pillars. “Okay,” Amy’s voice called out. “Rory?”

Upon hearing his wife call his name, Rory finally found his voice. “We will,” he hoped his words had the same effect as Sarah’s.

“I love you.”

Rory blinked. Usually he was the one to initiate these kinds of interactions. The floor began to disintegrate in that awful familiar way. It was finally activating.

“I love you too,” he barely managed to call out as he and Sarah fell back into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand chapter 4! Eheheeh, sorry for updating so inconsistently and so rarely. It's been a few months. Don't worry, I'll finishh this eventually, even if it takes super long, so, have some relief in that. Just yell at me till I update again in the comments, that usually gives me a good incentive. I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. The Way Back

Rory fell in a blind panic, desperately trying to cling on to something. He watched the pinpoint of light from where he fell getting farther and farther away. Farther from his wife. Despite wishing with all that he had to still be up there, Rory had no choice but to fall. 

 But, soon enough, he felt his descent slow and be cushioned by the spongy floor. He stood, trying not to stumble on the uneven ground. 

“Sorry, couldn’t give you much of a warning. Karatuan fast travel; Known for its sudden drops and surprisingly soft landings.” Sarah’s voice rang out in the darkness. He could see the vague shape of her standing and fiddling with something, though Rory supposed she couldn’t see much in the dark.  

Sarah. 

Rory felt anger, betrayal, and regret run through him like a rushing river. He stepped forward just as Sarah turned on the lights, an eerie golden glow illuminating her. She looked like a ghost in the otherworldly light. 

Rory paid no mind to the uncanny glow, instead grabbing Sarah’s wrist, this time making sure to keep a good hold. 

“You left Amy up there.” Rory let the words permeate the air as he coldly met Sarah’s eyes. 

Sarah met his gaze, unwavering. Again, Rory felt that familiarity, the feeling of something much more powerful and ancient behind those eyes. It was almost enough to make Rory drop his glare. Almost. 

“I had no choice.” 

Rory glared. “You had every choice!” 

Sarah broke their gaze. “No, I really didn’t. Besides, Amy said she was fine with it-” 

“She could be dying right now!” 

“I wouldn’t let that happen. You heard me, he can’t do anything to her.” She returned to fiddling with the cables, her voice steady. 

Rory let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, how the hell does that work? How’d you do that?” 

“Short answer - I’m really smart.” Sarah shifted to another group of wires, expertly twining and weaving her fingers through them, manipulating the technology in ways he couldn’t understand. 

Rory let out a deep sigh. “Alright, look – if you’re not going to give me a straight answer, then tell me this.” He met her eyes, unflinching. “Promise me that she will be safe.” 

She matched his gaze, but Rory could still see something hidden in her eyes. “I promise,” she said. 

Rory sighed. “I guess that’s good enough.” Sarah’s mood immediately changed, seriousness replaced with a childlike grin. “Alright, I’ll take that!” She quickly turned away from him and started marching down the halls. Rory sighed again. God, this was going to be a long day. 

He followed her, while staring up at the massive walls of the ship. He could see about twenty feet above him, before the lights dimmed and the upper levels of the ship were engulfed in blackness. Rory shivered. He really didn’t like the feeling of this place. What idiot had designed such an unnerving ship?Even the Doctor had better design sense than this, and that was saying something.  _The Doctor._ The name sent a pang through his chest. Rory shook his head. Best not to think about him. 

“Alright, we need a plan,” Sarah’s voice graciously distracted him. “Huh?” was all Rory could muster in return. 

Sarah huffed. “Do try to pay attention. To save Amy, Rory!” Now that caught Rory’s attention.  

“What do we need to do?” 

“Well, right now we need to find our way back to the bridge.” 

“But... But we were just up there? Why did we leave if we’re just going to go back?”  _Why did you leave Amy in danger?_  

“Oh, Rory, Rory! Think it through!” Rory was about to comment on how her logic didn’t make sense, but she continued before he could speak. “I’ve scrambled our location and locked our alien buddy out of about 2/3 of his systems. Keratuan tech,” she said with a half-laugh, “No firewalls at all! Mind you, this ship’s computer system is particularly patchy; something tells me our friend didn’t major in computer science, he’s probably an engineer or something. That reminds me, I have this great engineer friend-” She suddenly stopped herself. “Sorry, I’m rambling,” she said with a shake of her head. 

Rory blinked. “Uh... Okay. But you didn’t answer my question.” 

“Oh, sorry!” Sarah said with a half-bow. “Let me explain. So, I’ve scrambled our location; the alien has absolutely no idea where we are. Quite hard to do, I might add,” she said with an air of pride. “Not only that, but I’ve made it so he can’t use a lot of his tech, like his transportation, his scanners, and his regulators. Everything important, except for the defenses of course. Which just  _had_ to be on a different system.” Rory could hear her annoyance. 

“Anyways, we have the complete drop on him,” she said with an impish grin. “And I say it’s about time for a sneak attack.” 

Rory weighed this. “Okay, but are we just going to go back in there with no backup? Nothing?” 

“Oi, you got me!” Sarah said, placing a hand on her chest. “Besides, who would you ask? Nobody in their right mind would drop everything to help some people save somebody from a supposed alien attack. We’d be dropped in the looney bin, and me, experimented on! And not to mention-” Rory held up a hand, stopping her train of thought. “Rambling. Again.” 

Sarah shrugged. “Guess that’s just who I am now.” She turned away from him, leaving him to ponder her words. 

*** 

The Doctor sighed inwardly. Even her legs were starting to hurt from all this walking. She had dropped them at the opposite end of the ship, which gave them plenty of time to plan as they trekked back to the bridge. The Doctor hoped she could come up with a convincing enough plan before Rory could ask too many questions. Bloody Rory was always good at seeing through his lies, some of them at least-  _Her, I mean,_ The Doctor corrected in her head. This whole woman thing was still pretty new to her. New and exciting. After this nightmare was over, the Doctor hoped she could explore just how she felt about this- but for now, she needed to focus. 

They’d been walking for a good thirty minutes, with her and Rory occasionally spouting a conversation. But it was nothing friendly, nothing off-topic; all professional and impersonal. The way strangers talk. The Doctor’s chest ached; a deep, dull but potent pain, like thorns carving away at her core. The familiar feeling of loneliness. The Doctor glowered at the floor. She didn’t have time to feel like this, besides, she had left them behind. No more dinners when he came over, or watching terrible movies on the telly, or their wonderful, terrible adventures-  _Stop. Stop it._  She could feel the icy thorns over her hearts, threatening to squeeze them till they burst. She had to control her emotions, before... before- 

“Hey, are you alright?” Sarah looked up to see the comforting face of Rory, eyes full of concern. Concern for her. His friend, even though she could never tell him that. She blinked, suddenly noticing that she had stopped walking. 

“Uh, sorry, I was just thinking,” she managed to say. Rory nodded. “I get the feeling. This place makes me anxious too,” he said with a shiver. “Something about this place just feels... wrong.” 

The Doctor pondered his hypothesis. Maybe there was something uncanny about this place. Or maybe it was just Rory’s human brain assigning feelings to things that weren’t there. Or maybe both. 

The Doctor shook her head, dispelling the thought. “But anyways, we’re almost there. Just a bit more to go.” She noticed Rory take a deep breath, seeming to prepare himself for the confrontation of saving his wife; but she could see worry and uncertainty in his eyes. Funny, even the bravest person she knew needed a pep talk. 

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Rory,” she began, making eye contact. “I promise. We will all make it out of there, all safe. Trust me.” Rory swallowed. He looked into her eyes, and the Doctor was happy to see a little spark of trust in his eyes, even if it was small. 

She smiled. “Good. So here’s what we’re gonna do...” 

As the Doctor explained the plan, she thought more about that trust. Back in the good old days, that trust blazed like a wildfire, if not wavering a little at times. The spark was a somber reminder of how their bond had stayed intact, in some way at least. Trust. It was so important to Rory. So very important. 

Hopefully he wouldn’t see she was lying about how Amy couldn’t be hurt. 

*** 

Rory gulped. The plan was simple enough, he figured, but he still worried for his wife. He knew she was capable of protecting herself, but they just hadn’t done this in so long. 

Rory grunted as he climbed along after Sarah. They had entered an access vent, upon Sarah’s suggestion. As he scaled the vent, the wall of the ship continued to press into his back, making him feel quite claustrophobic. It made him miss the wide, spacious halls he had come to know. 

This vent was no normal vent, either; they were climbing at an almost 90 degree angle, made possible with Sarah’s skills. With a few taps of buttons and wires, she had apparently “changed the consistency” of the spongy material the ship was made of to hold its shape after being dug into. Not that it made climbing a breeze; it was like trying to scale a wall of clay. 

 _“_ _Be careful when you’re climbing the vent,_ _”_ Sarah had told him.  _“It’ll be_ _rough,_ _but it’ll dump us_ _right behind him. Hopefully he won’t see us coming.”_  

 _Hopefully indeed,_  Rory thought to himself.  

“Alright, we’re almost there,” Sarah whispered down to him. “Just a few more metres.” Rory peered above Sarah to see a plateau outlined in the dim yellow light. Good. His muscles were aching. 

Rory collapsed as he reached the plateau, not having enough energy to keep himself upright. He was drenched in sweat, his muscles complaining loudly through cramps and aching. Amy was right, he really needed to start working out again. New York had made him go soft. 

“Not as fit as you used to be, eh?” Rory peered up through his hair to see Sarah, offering him a hand. Amazingly, she looked barely even winded. 

“What kind of training have you done?” He said as he graciously took her hand, finally standing. 

“Well, most of it’s in my biology,” She shrugged. “But I did a lot of combat training as a soldier in...” Even in the dim light, Rory could see the color drain from her face. She blinked, moving a hand to her mouth as if it had a mind of its own. Finally, something pierced the silence. “...I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that,” she muttered, with a shake of her head. She turned away from him, letting his hand go. 

Rory decided to break the strangled atmosphere. “Combat training? I did some of that, while I was..” Well, he couldn’t really get into the whole Roman end-of-the-universe-reboot debacle without spending precious time that could be spent saving Amy. “Well,” he supplied, scratching his head, “I used to be a soldier for a bit.”  _Yeah, one made of plastic. “_ It was a long time ago,” he shrugged. 

Sarah looked at him, eyes almost shining in the dark. They seemed to swirl, like the cosmos itself. Like galaxies spinning in starlight, ancient and ever-burning. Rory blinked, and the effect was gone. It was strange, Rory thought. How alien and familiar those eyes were to him. 

Sarah finally spoke. “Yeah, it was a long time ago for me too.”  Suddenly, she took in a sharp intake of breath. “Alright. Enough chit-chat. Let’s go save your wife.”  

Rory couldn’t argue with that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof! Lots of perspective switching in this one. The reveal(tm) should happen probably by the next 1-2 chapters ;)))


	6. Half-Baked Plan

The Doctor opened a panel in the wall, pulling the glowing cables out to read their data. She squinted, trying to understand the various symbols of the Keratuan language as quickly as possible. It looked like their kidnapper hadn’t tried to run any additional scans for them. Good. He listened to her warning. 

They were just about ready. 

“Okay. Any questions?” Rory shook his head. 

‘’Right, then,” she moved a section of wires, carefully commanding them to open a shaft in front of them. The tiny machines worked seamlessly; perfectly moving and organizing themselves into the specified orientation. The Doctor would have to take some with her to study them. 

“Follow me,” she whispered, then stepped into the new hallway. 

- 

As they walked, she heard it. The telltale hum and whine of the alien’s strange contraption; its home in the bridge, roughly 10 metres away. 

Rory spoke when she stopped. “Plan’s a go?” 

She nodded. “Plan’s a go.” With that, she opened a final panel in the wall, doing a few simple taps to open an entrance in front of them. She felt a rush of air, indicating a much larger cavern. Right where they wanted to go. 

With no hesitation, she strode forward. 

- 

Now came the hard part. The Doctor had to sneak behind the alien without being detected, keep Amy and Rory safe, and keep her identity a secret; all at the same time. She had faced harder challenges, she supposed, but this one was going to be quite the journey. She could feel it. 

With a quick motion to Rory, she crept forward, making sure to stay as quiet as possible. Even without their scanners, Keratuans were quite good listeners. 

“So, when’re you gonna let me go?” A voice rang out.  _Amy._ The Doctor squinted, desperate to see her dearest friend safe and sound.  

Amy was sitting on the floor, thankfully not still held up upside-down. Her hair was a mess and she looked bored, but other than that, she seemed okay. 

A growl came through as a response to Amy’s question. She sighed loudly, taking time to make the sigh as long and annoying as possible. “Still not talking, huh?” This time not even a growl came through. 

“You’re going to regret this, you know,” Amy called into the silence. “Once my husband gets back, you’re gonna be in a heap of trouble...” She let her words trail off as she traced a line on the floor absentmindedly. 

“Okay. Phase one, begin!” She elbowed Rory, who was too distracted by his wife to notice. The Doctor rolled her eyes.  _Humans._  She gave him a harder shove, hissing, “Get a shift on, Rory!” 

Rory looked back and forth between her and Amy, finally remembering what has supposed to do. “Okay.” He took a deep breath and leapt out of their hiding place. 

“N-no time like the present, I imagine!” Rory called.  _Yeesh. He could’ve w_ _orked_ _on that_ _delivery_ _,_  the Doctor thought. But that didn’t seem to matter to Amy, whose face cracked into a smile so wide it rivaled the one on her bedroom wall. “Rory!” 

He nodded to his wife. “Alright, honey,” he called, trying his best to look imposing. The Doctor supposed it was harder without the Roman armor. “I’ll get you out of here!” 

As much as the Doctor wanted to watch, she had to get a move on. Silently, she crept behind the alien’s imposing tower, making sure to hide in the blind spots even if the security system wasn’t active. She kept low to the soft floor, almost at the base of the structure.  _Almost there_ _-_  

“As you can see, I am totally, and utterly alone,” Rory said. The Doctor could almost hear the audible cringe. “I-uh, I mean-” She risked a look back at Rory. It seemed he had reached his wife at least, who sighed beside him. “Don’t worry hon, I got this!” Amelia said, and proceeded to yell out a series of obscenities so fierce it would have made Rassilon go pale. _It seemed like Amy hadn’t lost her ad-libbing skills_ , the Doctor thought as she got back to work. She carefully scaled the tower, continuing her trek of silence. If she could get to the pod at the top and flip open the access panel, everything would be good as gold. She continued her climb, determined to set things right. 

A loud snarl came through the speaker, making the Doctor jump. “You will not live till the end of today!” cried the voice. Now that she was close, she could hear the alien working on the tech, probably trying to get rid of her hack. She was just at the first main access panel now. She smirked, opening it. 

 _Tik_ _tik_   _tik_   _tik_ _._  

The Doctor whirled her head around, only to see a brief flash of long and shiny metal before she felt something wrap around her waist. In a heartbeat, she was flung from her spot on the tower, just barely able to press a few buttons in the panel. But just as she was thrown, she was caught again by the scanner, the sudden stop making her insides feel like jelly. It coiled around her waist as she struggled to catch her breath. 

“Ah, fuck! Sarah!” A far-away Scottish voice called. Sarah heaved. “..’m..fine...” she wheezed, though Amy couldn’t hear her from so far away. 

An awful, screeching, dissonant sound filled the room with dread. It was a wheezing, harsh vocalization, something nasal and snarling.  _The Alien was laughing_ , the Doctor realized. 

“So... I see you’ve figured out my little hack?” The Doctor said, trying to seem calm. The alien only greeted her with more awful laughter, lowering her towards the Ponds. 

“Sarah!” 

Amy rushed forward, Rory close behind. The Doctor had barely enough time to shout “No!” before a second scanner sped through the air, whipping Amy with a sickening slash, sending her barreling into Rory. 

“Amy!” 

The Doctor was seeing red, but she was unsure if the red was Amy’s spilled blood or her own rage. The scanner coiled around her waist, threatening to kill her, but she didn’t care. 

From ten feet away, the Doctor watched as the scanner curled around her best friends, the shiny metal whip now adorned with the crimson hue of blood. 

Before anyone could do anything, the scanner coiled around their waists, necks, and wrists, like pythons constricting their prey. The Doctor barely noticed hers doing the same, all of her attention on Amy. 

Amy had a long slash going diagonally from her sternum to her collarbone, making her pale skin slick with ruby red blood. The sickening scent of iron filled the air. 

“Amy, Amy!” Rory’s frantic shouting suddenly became apparent to her. He desperately fought against his restraints, writhing and thrashing like a caged animal. 

“You will all be prepared for drainage,” the voice coughed out, as a tremble in the floor enunciated his words. Three pods rose up, almost like the one at the top of the structure the alien lived in.  _Battery cartridges,_  the Doctor realized.  _T_ _he tech had recovered sooner than she expected, she_ _miscalculated_ _, the alien figured out her plan sooner than she expected..._  thoughts ran through the Doctor’s mind at a million miles an hour. She had royally, absolutely, completely fucked this up. And now Amy was hurt. 

“Stop this.” The Doctor had found her voice. An icy cold had filled her, a hollow void replacing the fiery rage that burned so bright only a few seconds ago. 

Even with total control, the alien briefly halted in his collection of his power sources. The Doctor had a sudden darkness to her even darker than earlier. It was one she knew too well. She tried her best to keep it under, to pull it back from reaching the surface, but she had no choice now.  

“This is your last warning. I’m not responsible for what happens next.” She was slightly in front of the Ponds, something she was grateful for. They couldn’t see her face. 

“And what will you do, source?” It spoke again, voice blackened with hate, but it had nothing on the Doctor’s. 

“How about this?” 

The tendril holding her began to jolt and writhe erratically, sparks flying from it at random. She grinned with no humor, like a shark eyeing its prey. She discarded the now limp scanner, dropping it on the floor without breaking eye contact with the alien’s cage. 

She continued further, no time for chatter. She already messed up once, and she was not in the mood to do it again. The alien let out a strangled snarl, desperately summoning defenses to stop her, but to no avail. Huge walls surged forward, only to dissipate before reaching her. Holes opened in the floor, but as soon as she got close, they closed up, returning to normalcy. More scanners surged forward, only to fall limp like dead snakes once they got near her. 

She walked, unharmed, each step like the chime of a bell signaling the end. The alien was powerless to stop her. By now she had reached the tower, now opening a panel and resuming her mission. 

“...Sarah?” Amy’s voice weakly called out. The Doctor gritted her teeth, guilt surging through her like a tidal wave. Amy was hurt and it was  _her fault._  

 _“Amy!”_ Rory’s voice thankfully overtook her place to respond. “Oh my God, are you okay?”  

The Doctor continued her work, desperately trying to tune them out. The hurt had returned with full force. Her breathing quickened as she stared at the wires, wishing for once in her goddamn life she could be on time. If only this activated sooner, Amy wouldn’t have gotten hurt. If only the alien had figured out the first part of her plan, Amy wouldn’t have gotten hurt. If only she never landed here, Amy wouldn’t have gotten hurt.   
 

“Sarah! Look out!” Amy yelled, yanking the Doctor from her spiral. She blinked, her eyes stinging from unshed tears, when she heard it. A scuttling. A growl. Sharply, she looked up. 

A monster met her gaze. The Keratuan, finally having revealed itself. It crawled incredibly quickly down the tower, screeching hisses coming from its mandibles. 

“Finally decided to show your face? Good.” The Doctor cracked her neck just as the Keratuan made the final leap down to the ground. 

“You are ruining my ship!” It said, with an accusatory claw pointed at her.  

The Doctor stepped forward, uncaring at the monster’s size, roughly 4 feet taller than her. She gazed into its four beady eyes, unwavering in the insect-like alien’s ghastly figure. She knew she was the bigger monster in the room. 

“You hurt my friend.” And with that, she jabbed two fingers forward, striking a weak point of the creature’s exoskeleton on its neck. Venusian Akido; not just for pacifistic fights. 

It doubled over in pain, the Doctor reveling in the sight. She had so few opportunities to be cruel. Without looking away from the alien, she continued with one hand to type in commands. 

“I gave you a chance,” she said, her words containing all the weight they needed. 

The creature only let out a bubbling hiss as it kneeled over, pressing one of its many hands on its neck wound. 

A loud  _ga-shunk_  signaled to the Doctor that the total scanner deactivation program she ran finally worked. The Ponds were free. 

“Amy, Rory,” the Doctor called over her shoulder. “We’ll be out in a second.”  _I’m sorry,_  she bit back. Apologies were for later. 

“What are you gonna do to it?” Amy said, uncharacteristically frail. The Doctor glanced through her hair, thankful it shielded her from a complete look at her old friends. She doubted she could handle it right now. 

Amy’s shirt was a mess, covered in her own blood. Rory was half-carrying her, one of her arms around his shoulder. Their faces obscured by the Doctor’s hair, she could only guess what they were looking at her with, but she had a good idea: fear. 

The Doctor opened her mouth, then closed it, unsure of what to say. Instead, she continued typing at the terminal, letting the digitalized sounds fill the silence. 

“We need to go. Amy-Amy's cut is bleeding really badly.” Rory’s voice contained three things: worry for his wife’s safety, fear of the Doctor’s white-hot rage, and finally, anger. Anger at this strange woman for lying to him.  

“Rory, I’m fine, it looks a lot worse than it is,” Amy said, but she was leaning heavily on her husband. 

A growling hiss filled the air, the defeated alien’s final admission of defeat. The Doctor looked down, face emotionless, all traces of chatter and liveliness gone. It was like she was a different person, and honestly, she was. 

“Who... are... you?” The Alien uttered. The Doctor crouched down, pure rage billowing through her just from looking at the creature. She didn’t care what she would do. She didn’t care what Amy and Rory would think. After all, she was just a stranger to them. 

“I am...” she traced the side of the monster’s face, soft fingers meeting hard carapace. She leaned forward, hand now tightening. “...your ending.” 

“Sarah, stop it.” _Amy's voice._

The Doctor paused. A strange emotion ran through her. It took her a moment to remember what it was: guilt. The rage had completely surrounded her senses. 

She blinked, surprised by her words. She was nothing to them, right? And this alien was nothing to them. It just tried to kill Amy. 

The Doctor glanced a look back at the Ponds, and that was her worst mistake. She saw revulsion, terror, and... pity in their eyes. Pity for both her and the alien. Clarity grasped her like a fall into an icy river, her hearts feeling like they almost stopped. 

 _What was she doing_ _?_  

She stepped back, throat dry. She’d almost lost it. Almost let the Warrior come through. 

“I...” 

She looked at the creature on the floor. It still laid there, twitching occasionally. She really hit its nerve bunch hard.  _Wait._ Something was wrong. It looked smaller than before. Suddenly, she heard it. A scraping, scuttling sound. With a rising dread, she whirled around to face Rory and Amy, only to have her worst fears confirmed. 

Before she could even open her mouth, the second half of the Keratuan leapt from the shadows, and with a crashing blow it smashed into Amy and Rory; sending them toppling to the ground. As the Doctor’s hearts skyrocketed into her throat, she remembered a little known fact about Keratuans: they could separate their bodies in half and control them apart from each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man cliffhangers sure do suck huh


	7. Her Last Card

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sudden twist from the alien brings the Doctor to play the final trick up her sleeve.

The Doctor desperately tried to move, only to find brown, stick-like things holding her back, piercing her skin through the thin fabric of the borrowed pajamas.  _ Legs, _  she realized.  The top part of the alien  had gotten back up as she dropped her guard to look at Rory and Amy. The centipede-like legs dug deeper into her body as it extended a razor-sharp mandible right over her carotid artery, a hair's width away from killing her. “Now, then,” the monster purred into her ear, making the Doctor’s hair stand on end .  “Enough with this trouble. You will be drained, even if I have to do it myself.”

Amy grunted, snapping the Doctor’s attention back to the couple. She laid on her stomach, Rory next to her, both of their arms pinned under them by the second half of the creature. The Doctor’s double-pulse thumped wildly against the monster’s blade as she scrambled to think of a new plan.

“Walk towards the Drainage Holders,” the alien commanded. It dug its mandible into her flesh, drawing reddish-orange blood  from her shoulder , but she could care less about herself.

“Let them go.”

She was tired,  _ so tired,  _ of seeing those who she loved  hurt. _ Killed.  _ She couldn’t handle it anymore. She couldn’t watch them die a second time.

The alien sneered, its mouthparts twitching. “We’ve already had this conversation,” it uttered. “I will not.”

The alien forced her towards the pods, and the Doctor felt all hope leave her. She didn’t have any other options left. She looked down as the alien stepped her in front of the first pod.

“Don’t you want to know who I am , before you kill us ?”

The alien chittered. “Hmm...” It hummed, delicately  pressing a button on the side of the pod, opening it.  “You’re going to die soon, so why not? Tell me who you are, Source.”

“I am the Doctor.”

The silence was deafening.  It seemed as though  even the ship had stopped, all the background noise giving way to a void of nothingness. The Doctor could have sworn her hearts had stopped, and part of her wish they had.  She thanked the stars she was facing away from her friends.

That  brief moment  of pause, a moment between life and death, was all she needed. She’d get her timing right this time.

Immediately detecting her movement, the  Keratuan  sliced into the Doctor’s neck, but it was too late. The Doctor lunged forward, slamming her hand down onto the pod’s interface. A red, beeping hologram popped up, signifying that her work from before she had to play her last card wasn’t wasted.

The Doctor gasped, feeling the gush of blood and following warmth as it ran down her neck. She fell from the alien’s grasp, hitting the mercifully spongy floor. Adrenaline surged through her veins as she dizzily stood, hearts pumping a mile a minute. She had only one objective: Save Amy and Rory.

She blundered forward, blood spattering on the floor of the ship as sirens began to wail and lights flashed red, the rewards of her plan finally coming to fruition. Amy and Rory were only about twenty feet away when the Doctor keeled over, black spots dotting her vision.  _ Oh right, blood loss,  _ she hazily thought as she felt her heartbeats thudding in her ears like war drums.  But,  luck was on her side. Thanks to the alien’s momentary shock, she’d been able to turn her neck as the alien  sliced , making the cut  more shallow . The large amount of blood trickling down her neck seemed to test that theory, though.

She forced herself back to a standing position, her knees shaking. But she gritted her teeth and kept going. She had endured worse, after all.

Within a few seconds, she reached her dear friends, still pinned under the lower half of the alien. She was only half aware that they were staring at her, but she didn’t have time for that now. The Doctor took a sturdy hold of the lower half’s carapace and pulled. Straining with every muscle she had, she desperately tried to wrench the heap off the couple.  With a few pushes, she was able to shove the obstacle  off of  them, Amy and Rory scrambling to stand. The Doctor helped them up, feeling their gazes continue to burn into her, but she still couldn’t face them. They weren’t out of the woods yet.

A loud ,  piercing howl came from behind them,  reminding the Doctor of a far more pressing situation: the enraged alien whose ship was about to explode. Inwardly, the Doctor felt relief. Bantering with the enemy was far easier than being honest with her friends.

She turned back towards the alien, body relaxed. After all, i f there was one thing the Doctor could do, it’s talk.

“Ah, I see you’ve figured out you can’t undo the engines going to critical?”

The alien proceeded to loudly curse at her in its native language.

The Doctor blanched. “Oi, that wasn’t very nice!” She played up the bravado,  hiding her fears and sadness behind a carefully constructed mask. “Though I guess I understand why you’re mad. But this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t hurt my friend,” she let a glint of fury rise to the surface. “ So  I’d say you deserve it.”

The alien screeched again, too angry to form proper words. Out of the corner of her eye, she Doctor saw the heap of the lower half of the alien twitch. In less than a second, the Doctor surged forward and slashed at the secondary nerve bundle, temporarily para ly zing it.

“Oh, no  no no no ,” she tutted. “You aren’t  gonna  use that trick again.”

“Doctor...” The Doctor’s hearts almost stopped at the sound of  Amelia’s  voice. The recognition she both feared and craved carving marks into her hearts.

The Doctor held her breath, mentally preparing herself. She still couldn’t face them. To think, the Doctor had faced thousands of the most evil and abhorrent monsters, and she couldn’t turn around and face two humans.

“DOOOCTOOOR!” A different voice screeched over the sirens. Half-relieved, the Doctor focused back on the alien.

“Ah, so you’ve heard of me?” She said with a lopsided grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

The alien hissed. “YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE KERATUANS!”

The Doctor shrugged. “Eh, I have a lot of enemies. Besides,” she said, her eyes glinting dangerously, “you lot decided to ally with the Daleks during your interplanetary war with the  Zaxins .” The Doctor briefly recalled that  particular war . She’d-he’d only dropped in for a  second, and  ended up helping a group of  Zaxin  refugees escape from a Dalek prison camp stationed on  Keratua  IV. The war ended up taking a turn, when unsurprisingly, the Daleks decided to turn on the  Keratuans , nearly eliminating them from the solar system. “Didn’t quite work out for you, did it? After all, you should never trust a Dalek.”

The alien screamed in rage, spines bristling. The Doctor smirked. Just a little more time till she could make her escape.

“You must be an escaped ship, right? Crew must’ve been killed by our favorite salt shakers. Ended up here on Earth where you detected a slight flux in the  Artron  levels,” she said. “And,” she paused. “I reckon you got pretty excited when you saw a massive increase in those levels. Little did you know, it was me.” Her eyes darkened. “Which really must suck for you.”

The alien shook with rage and terror, stamping its many legs on the floor not unlike an upset toddler. It opened its mandibles to speak but the Doctor cut it off. “Though, I can give you one word of advice,” she let the  statement  hang in the air. “Run.”

And with that, she grabbed Amy and Rory’s wrists and bolted down a corridor just as the sirens began their  next wail sequence.

They sprinted down the hall, Rory and Amy too focused and shocked by what exactly just happened to speak. The Doctor was thankful for it. Taking several turns, the party dashed through the ship, sirens continuing to blare. They were on their seventh wail  loop , meaning they had  approximately thirty  seconds to get out before the ship exploded. 

Right before they felt they might collapse from exhaustion, the group finally ended up at the escape pod deck. Three pods were in the room, not unlike the battery pods they were almost placed in earlier.

The Doctor clapped her hands and reached forward, briefly tapping a code into a holographic interface. With a swoosh, the pods opened. The Doctor took a deep breath, putting on her best “listen to me” voice.

“Rory,” the name felt strange on her tongue, like a piece of lead was holding it down. “Get in the pod. I’ll launch them when we’re all inside.”

Luckily, Rory knew it wasn’t the time to ask questions. He stepped into the pod, after briefly giving his wife a kiss.

“Amy.” The Doctor didn’t need to say any more. Her face pale from shock and blood loss, she shakily entered the  second  pod without saying a word. 

The Doctor breathed slowly, taking in the control panel’s complexities. It really was a marvel, especially for a cobbled-together ship. This particular  Keratuan  must’ve  barely escaped from the war, and Frankenstein-ed the ship from whatever spare parts he could find. It was quite impressive, really. Too bad she had to blow it up.

The alarms finished their second to last blare loop, meaning the Doctor had about 10 seconds to get in the pod and get out. The Time Lord took a deep breath, knowing what she’d have to face when she escaped. With no further hesitation, the Doctor entered in the command and stepped into the third pod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been a while! I was caught up in some school stuff. Next chapter should be fun ;))  
> One thing I regret about this chapter and the last is the awkward cut-off between them. Might play with where exactly they end later, but here it is now.

**Author's Note:**

> Oof first published fic!! I hope you enjoyed and please leave a comment and kudos if you did!!


End file.
